A correlational design was employed to determine how risk and protective factors relate to first-year college adjustment. In total, 348 students completed an online survey about their experience adjusting to college. Risk factors (i.e., psychiatric medication, fearful-avoidant attachment, and anxious-preoccupied attachment) negatively impacted college adjustment; while protective factors (i.e., resilience, academic self-efficacy, and optimism) enhanced college adjustment. The risk factors, protective factors, and control variables analyzed in this study accounted for 54% of the variance. Notably, risk factors lost their significance after adjusting for protective factors. A major clinical implication of these findings is that college mental health professionals must assess for protective factors and enhance these strengths in order to improve first-year college adjustment, which is likely to impact graduation rates.